Charlottesville restaurant reviews and food news

Peter Chang’s China Grill: Top Dishes

While there were some definite kinks in the frenzied opening days of Peter Chang’s China Grill, upon return visits we’ve found that the restaurant is hitting its stride. And by return visits, I mean we’re addicted and may soon reach a point where we have honorary plaques on one of the tables for two. But we’ve also found that there are definite hits and misses off the menu. If you know what to order, you’ll have an incredible meal that will be some of the best Chinese food of your life. If you take a more haphazard approach to the menu, it can be a disappointing experience.

Things are made more challenging because the menu does not provide descriptions of dishes, the dish names are not always obvious clues, and the servers often don’t provide helpful guidance. But we’re here to help! Our strategy is to order one tried and true favorite and at least one new dish. We’ve been slowly making our way through the menu to find the true gems, so here’s our list so far of best of Chang. Are we missing anything?

Dan Dan Noodle – This is a classic Szechuan dish of noodles, spicy chili oil, Szechuan peppers, scallions, and pork or beef. Chang adds crushed peanuts and a blast of umami magic. While it’s listed under the “Snack” section of the menu, it’s filling and a great dish to share.

Shredded Tofu Skin in Chili Sauce – This chilled dish is a great refreshing vegetarian option. The delicate tofu skin is tossed with cilantro and the ever-present chili oil.

Coriander Fish Rolls – An appetizer that’s perfectly tender and delicious enough that the rolls don’t even need a sauce.

Szechuan Bang Bang Shrimp – A great appetizer to start out your meal, these shrimp are lightly fried and tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce.

Dry-Fried Eggplant – The Taste of China version of this incredibly spicy and unique eggplant ended up number one on my top five dishes in Charlottesville, and Chang has replicated the magic at China Grill. Incredibly addictive and sweat-inducing.

Szechuan Double Cooked Chicken – While not an incredibly unique flavor, the savory smokiness of the chicken makes this a great main dish option. It’s also one of the few dishes that isn’t spicy.

killer

beef tendon & tripe in chili oil & spicy pork belly are SO GOOD. hot & sour soup is even better than TOC’s, which formerly had the best ever. we also enjoyed the chicken in sweet-spicy sauce special & the spicy crispy duck & the duck pancakes special. my mom is really boring & ordered the chicken with asparagus, & she said it was the best chinese food she’s ever had. & the scallion bubble pancakes are still fun. we still can’t forsake TOC though bc of their spicy beef rolls.

we’ll have to try the tofu skin.

Jed

Is spicy pork belly the same as crispy pork belly? We had that a few times ago and were disappointed – it was more hard-crunchy than crispy – but maybe it was an off-night. Love the spicy crispy duck. One of my personal favorites. Exactly the right word for bubble pancakes, too – fun, not amazing. Good to see that TOC is hanging in there. Chicken and scallion hot pot, one of my favorites, is still delicious and not available at Chang…

http://twitter.com/madeleinebc Molly Conger

As a person with celiac disease, Chinese food is generally not an option for me. This being a more high-end restaurant, however, I thought I’d call and ask if they had any dishes that would be safe for someone with a gluten intolerance. The day manager I spoke to had never HEARD OF celiac disease or gluten. After explaining several times that it was an allergy to wheat, barley, and rye proteins and that gluten could hide in things like sauces and thickeners, he offered me a “low-sodium stir-fry.”

I understand that they are under no obligation to cater to those with food allergies or intolerances, but as someone working in the food services industry, especially as the manager of a popular and not-inexpensive restaurant, he should have some passing knowledge of a fairly common (1 in 133 people have celiac disease, very similar to the number of Americans who have peanut allergies) and very serious food sensitivity. I was very disappointed with the interaction I had with the hostess and the manager I spoke to. Even if I were to find out now that there were dishes I could eat there, I would likely not go.

erin

Molly – I agree, it’s ridiculous for any higher-end restaurant to not even be familiar with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities. Mas impressed me on this front recently. Their menu marks every gluten-free item – including a gluten-free pizza!

ben

The Golden Mountain Chicken is my favorite dish from this restaurant. I have never had anything quite like it before. It almost looks like funnel cake, but it’s as if they fry shredded chicken. The sauce is on the sweeter side, and it’s not spicy at all. I’ve ordered it twice now and it has not disappointed.

Chris

From my past two visits:

Peter Rolls: Perfectly fried shell, and the mushrooms in the filling have an amazing earthy flavor.

Bamboo Fish: I think this is the same as the crispy sliced fish from TOC. Fried strips of fish with the heat infused directly into the batter. Chili and cilantro garnish.

Fish in Szechuan Chili Sauce: Kind of a fish stew with braised fillets in a rich, peppery sauce. Great over rice. Even better as leftovers. Not all that hot (relative to other hot dishes).

I had a duck entree as well, the title of which I cannot recall. But I think it was a similar preparation to the double-cooked chicken in the post above. Our guess was roasted then fried. Best drumstick I’ve ever eaten by a considerable margin.

For the record, I love the crispy pork belly.

Steph

we had the red bean pumpkin cakes an an appetizer and they were quite unexpected — sweet almost dessert like. I’d definitely get them again.

Jed

I like the pumpkin cakes too (as long as you eat immediately, when hot!). Funky sesame-covered donuts with pasty centers. Not quite as charming as the ones we got in Sichuan proper, however: http://goo.gl/6LB9l

One of my favorites at Peter Chang’s is Hot and Numbing Dry Beef, which I also like at TOC (I really like the glob of Szechuan peppercorns and cilantro used at TOC, but appreciate the subtler flavors at Peter Chang’s). Fantastic.